To examine fossils in person in DC, take a trip to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, which is currently featuring the display "Whales: Bone to Book" in its Ground Floor Exhibit Case; according to the museum's Current Exhibitions website, this display "traces the path of knowledge from discovery on the beach or sea cliff to museum drawer to scientific publication." The museum also has a variety of permanent exhibitions focused on fossils and/or paleontology: FossiLab, Dinosaurs/Hall of Paleobiology, Dinosaurs in Our Backyard (Exhibit Case), and Osteology: Hall of Bones; more information about all of these can be found on that same Current Exhibitions page. Finally, the museum's website also includes a page with details about three of the amateur paleontologists -- a classification that fits Mary Anning as well -- whose findings can be seen in the museum's Dinosaurs in Our Backyard display.

Happy discovering, and don't forget that the Georgetown Book Club will be meeting to discuss Remarkable Creatures on Thursday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m. Hope to see you there!